NCB gets a new boss
2008 batch IRS officer served Bangalore, Chennai units before taking over operations in the city
An Indian Revenue Service (IRS) official of the 2008 batch – Amit Fakkad Gawate – has been appointed as the zonal director of the Mumbai Unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), officials said on Thursday. Gawate is also a batchmate of former NCB ZD Sameer Wankhede.
The said post had been lying vacant for the past three months after Wankhede was detached from the NCB by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and sent back to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
The NCB has been in the news in 2020 and 2021 for handling several high-profile drugs cases involving Bollywood celebrities and people having links with politicians. In October last year, the NCB Mumbai had raided a cruise on specific information that drugs were being carried on board Several people had been arrested, including actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan.
The arrests led to controversy and an attack by Maharashtra minister Nawab
Malik who alleged that the NCB indulged in ‘farjiwada’ in Aryan’s case since October 2020. The minister had further alleged that it was a case of “kidnapping and ransom” and that the charges levied against Aryan were false. Malik said the Wankhede had planned to “trap” Aryan in collaboration with a former BJP youth wing president and general secretary of the party’s Mumbai unit. The Bombay High Court then directed Malik to retract and refrain from making such statements to the press. At the time, Malik had informed the court that the NCB was targeting him by challenging the bail plea of his son-in-law, booked in an unrelated drug case.
The NCB had also probed the drugs case related to Sushant Singh Rajput's death and had also summoned and questioned several Bollywood actresses in connection with another drug-related case probed by the agency in 2020.
After Wankhede's term ended on December 31, 2021, IRS officer Brijendra Choudhary from NCB's Indore Unit, had been given additional charge of the NCB Mumbai.
According to the NCB officials, Gawate was heading the NCB Bangalore Unit and NCB Chennai as an additional charge. As per an order issued by the MHA on Wednesday, Gawate would continue to hold the additional charge of Bangalore Unit till May 31.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the NCB suspended two officials – superintendent VV Singh and intelligence officer Ashish Ranjan – who were part of the Aryan Khan case, on account of dereliction of duty in another case probed by the unit.
After Wankhede's term ended on December 31, 2021, IRS officer Brijendra Choudhary from NCB's Indore Unit, had been given additional charge of the NCB Mumbai